Saline schools proposal to team up with Planned Parenthood for sex ed rejected by public

After a public meeting and online survey yielded many negative opinions, Saline Area Schools will not move forward with a plan to partner with Planned Parenthood to teach sex education.

The proposed sex education curriculum would have included lessons on contraceptive methods and LGBTQ issues. A major change was including a "peer-to-peer" teaching technique, where lessons and discussions are led by students trained by Planned Parenthood.

School officials canceled a second meeting in favor of a "community conversation" next Tuesday. Planned Parenthood representatives will not attend the meeting.

In a statement, Saline Area Schools Assistant Superintendent Steve Laatsch said that in the meeting, "We will seek feedback, but more in conversation versus having people take to the lectern for up to two minutes. The goal of this meeting will be to provide feedback to the Sex Education Advisory Council (and our health education program, in general) in order to consider next steps."

Planned Parenthood has assisted with sex education in both public and private schools, including in Ann Arbor and Dexter.

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Identical bills introduced last week, one in the House and another in the Senate, would prohibit the state from contracting with any healthcare service providers that perform abortions. The bills would also prohibit the allocation of any state or federal funds to such agencies.